Durant's decision extends Warriors' NBA title window

By Frank Pingue (Reuters) - Kevin Durant's stunning decision to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder for the already-lethal Golden State Warriors creates a behemoth that will be expected to contend for an NBA title for years to come. Landing Durant, a 27-year-old forward in his prime, bolsters a Warriors team that fell one game short of a repeat title last month after a campaign in which they set an NBA regular-season record with 73 wins and led the league in scoring. While it is too soon to know how Durant will fit in, adding him to a lineup that boasts two-time reigning MVP Stephen Curry, sharpshooter Klay Thompson and defensive stalwart Draymond Green has firmly shifted the balance of power to the Bay Area. Durant, motivated to win an elusive NBA title, was one of the most coveted free agents ever and he met with six teams over the weekend before announcing on Monday that he would join the Warriors. The team Durant picked is the one that denied him a trip to last month's NBA Finals as Golden State stormed back from the brink of elimination to win the Western Conference final in a decisive seventh game. "Kevin Durant is one of the top three players in the world. And he ran away from the challenge that he faces in order to jump on the bandwagon of a team that's a little bit better," said ESPN's Stephen A. Smith. But Durant, a four-time scoring champion who was named the MVP in 2014, felt his best chance for "growth" was to leave the only professional organization he has played for since entering the NBA as the second overall draft pick in 2007. "The primary mandate I had for myself in making this decision was to have it based on the potential for my growth as a player — as that has always steered me in the right direction," Durant said in a post on The Players' Tribune. "But I am also at a point in my life where it is of equal importance to find an opportunity that encourages my evolution as a man: moving out of my comfort zone to a new city and community which offers the greatest potential for my contribution and personal growth." The Warriors, who went on to lose to Cleveland in Game Seven of the NBA Finals, were already betting favorites to win it all in 2017 but their odds improved after Durant's announcement. According to the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, the Warriors are listed with a 2-3 line, compared with a 3-2 before Durant. To make room for Durant, the Warriors will have to make some moves. That could change the dynamic of a team whose success is a direct result of not only having a dynamic starting five, but also a talented crop of bench players. As for the Thunder, who Durant led to four conference finals and one NBA Finals, the loss of their franchise player is a crippling blow to an organization that is suddenly left to pick up the pieces and work on a long-term plan to stay competitive. The Thunder quickly expressed their disappointment over the departure of Durant, who they called a "founding father" to the organization. "We can't adequately articulate what he meant to the foundation of this franchise and our success," Thunder general manager Sam Presti said in a statement. "While clearly disappointing that he has chosen to move on, the core values that he helped establish only lead to us thanking him for the many tangible and intangible ways that he helped our program." (Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Andrew Both)